Where You Belong
by Terrasina Dragonwagon
Summary: Sequel to "Let You Know." Terra's dating another guy, and it's driving Beast Boy crazy. So he...takes matters into his own hands, so to speak. Oneshot, BBT, mostly fluff.


**Author:** Terrasina Dragonwagon  
**Title:** Where You Belong  
**Rating:** K+ (rating for language)  
**Genre:** Romance  
**Word Count:** 2,834  
**Disclaimer:** I do not own Teen Titans or any associated characters and situations. Those rights belong to…erm…Cartoon Network, maybe? I'm not sure. But they don't belong to me. Neither does the song ("To Make You Feel My Love"). It belongs to Garth Brooks. Unless you count my Terra figurine and Garth Brooks CD.

**Author's Note:** This story takes place approximately eight months after "Let You Know." At the beginning of the story, Beast Boy is not quite nineteen, and Terra is a bit over sixteen. To be exact, he's eighteen years and seven months, and she's sixteen years and one month. Ooo, the Dragon did _math! _Although it may be off by three or four months. I'm not sure. Just for reference - I've sort of arbitrarily decided that, as of "Aftershock II", Beast Boy was about six months older than Terra. Nice round number to calculate with, you see. Also, it is meant to take place after the last new episode - i.e. "Employee of the Month." I may go back later and edit LYK to include stuff from the new season, I may not; either way, this one _does _take the new season into account.

:x:x:x:

I know you haven't made your mind up yet  
But I would never do you wrong  
I've known it from the moment that we met  
There's no doubt in my mind where you belong  
…  
There ain't nothing that I wouldn't do  
Go to the ends of the earth for you  
Make you happy, make your dreams come true  
To make you feel my love

:x:x:x:

"So, what's this dude's name again?" Beast Boy asked. He was perched on the sink in Terra's bathroom, watching her do her makeup.

She rolled her eyes at him. "His name is Jake, Gar. Do you have _any _short-term memory?"

He grinned at her. "No."

Smiling in spite of herself, Terra turned back to her makeup bag. He watched quietly as she lined her eyes with a blue pencil. "Where are you going?" he asked as she put the lid back on it.

"An Indian restaurant downtown."

"Are you gonna use your hologram?"

"Of course I am, Gar." She sighed, put down the tube of lip gloss she'd picked up, and turned to face him. "_Why _are you interrogating me?"

"Because you're my best friend, and I'm curious." He gave her a winning smile. She rolled her eyes again and picked the lip gloss back up.

There was silence for several minutes as Terra finished with her makeup and began fiddling with her hair. Beast Boy broke it by asking, "So how'd you meet this guy?"

"I met him when I was out shopping last week."

"So you'd never seen this guy before?"

"_No, _Gar."

He thought about this for a moment. "So why'd you say yes when he asked you out, then?"

"Because I wanted to. I thought it might be nice to get out of the Tower and be _normal _for an evening."

This shut him up for a few minutes. He certainly knew how it felt to want to be normal. "Just…be careful, okay, Tara?"

She put down her hairbrush and turned to smile at him. "I will. Thanks, Gar."

He smiled back. "See you later," he said, and she left the bathroom. He watched her go, then sighed, jumped off the counter, and followed her out of the room.

:x:x:x:

It was driving him crazy, what she was doing. He'd watched her do it for the last three or four months. Terra was pretty, there was no denying that; and since when she wore her hologram, all it changed was her hair color…well. Several times over the last few months she'd had teenage boys approach her and ask her out. And finally, she'd started accepting their invitations.

He tortured himself with it. Every time she had a date, he'd come sit in her room and watch her get ready. The interrogation was nothing unusual; he'd discovered that he was very protective of his best friend. A couple of times he'd even gone with her and dropped her off if he didn't like the sound of the guy she was meeting.

Apparently he was also extremely intimidating.

He'd given up on her ever accepting him as being anything more than a friend. Oh, she'd _said _she liked him, months ago, but she seemed to have forgotten that she'd done so.

He was still in love with her, though - it _was _love, he'd decided. It wasn't anything he could change. Not that he wanted to. All he could do was sit and watch, and love her, and not be able to do anything about it.

:x:x:x:

He waited for her that night, as he always did. She came in around ten-thirty, smiling.

"Did you have fun, then?" he asked as she flopped down next to him on the couch.

"Yeah," she replied. "Jake's nice. Very funny. The food was good, too."

"Glad you enjoyed yourself," he said, forcing himself to smile. He'd been hoping - selfishly, he knew, but he couldn't help it - that, just like all the other guys she'd gone out with, Jake would turn out to be an idiot and a jackass.

"He asked if he could see me again," Terra said suddenly.

"And what'd you say?" he asked, fighting to keep his tone casual.

"I told him he could call me, and we'd see," she replied. Beast Boy didn't know how to respond to that, but fortunately, he didn't have to, because Terra yawned widely and stood up. "I'm tired," she said. "I'm gonna go to bed early."

"'Kay," he agreed. "'Night, Tara."

"'Night, Gar." She smiled at him. "Thanks for waiting for me."

"Yeah," he said lamely, and for the second time that day watched her walk away from him.

:x:x:x:

Several weeks passed, during which time Terra continued to see Jake every few days. She was thrilled. Beast Boy was miserable. She didn't notice.

Raven did, though, and came to talk to him. She was very direct: She just walked up to him one evening and said, "You still like her, don't you?"

Beast Boy stared. "Whaaaat?"

"Terra. You still like her, don't you? And she has a boyfriend. I can _tell _you're not happy, Beast Boy. I read emotions, you know."

He sighed in defeat. "I know. Yes, all right? I still like her. I _told _her I liked her, months ago. I think she forgot, though."

One corner of her mouth lifted in a wry grin. "That's not the kind of thing a girl forgets, Beast Boy."

"So…then…why…?" he trailed off, unable to finish the sentence.

She shook her head. "I don't know. Don't let her think _you've _forgotten, though. I wouldn't say anything to her directly, because of Jake, but _show _her how much you care about her."

"Okay. I'll do that," he said after a pause. "Thanks, Raven."

She didn't respond, just nodded and left.

Show _her how I feel, _he thought. _I can do that._

So he began to make an extra effort whenever he was around her, going out of his way to be sweet and charming and just generally 'perfect boyfriend material,' so to speak. He couldn't tell if it was making any difference or not, but he had no plans to stop trying.

One night, about nine weeks after she'd started seeing Jake, she came home from one of her dates with him in a raging temper. She came slamming in through the door much earlier than Beast Boy had expected to see her home, snarling and muttering to herself. He watched wide-eyed as she hurled her purse on the kitchen counter and began pacing back and forth, muttering to herself and gesticulating wildly.

"Uuuh…Tara? What's wrong?" he asked finally.

"Oh, I had a fight with Jake," she said irritably, dropping down next to him on the couch.

"What about?"

She sighed. "He says he doesn't know anything about me, that I don't ever talk about myself. Well, of _course _I don't talk about myself! I _can't _talk about myself, I'd give away who I really am! And I hate lying to him, but there's nothing I can do about it. I mean, what am I _supposed _to say?"

"Oh, Tara." He reached over and hugged her tightly. "I'm sorry. As I see it, the only two things you _can _do are tell him the truth, or invent an identity for yourself and tell him about that."

"And neither of those are really good solutions," Terra said bitterly.

"No. They're not. I'm sorry."

"Oh, it's not your fault," she said, kicking moodily at the coffee table. "I guess, realistically, there's nothing I _can _do." She sighed again and stood up. "Damn. Okay. Thanks, Gar. I'm going to bed."

"Anytime," he said, offering her a half-smile. "'Night."

"G'night," she replied, and left the room.

The relationship didn't last long after that. Two weeks later, she came home in tears. Beast Boy knew instantly that they must have broken up, and rather than saying anything just held out his arms and let her cry on his shoulder.

"I should have _known _this wouldn't work," she said at last. "I should have known. I'm so _stupid._"

"No you're not," he disagreed.

"Yes I am. I thought - I thought if I was dating a normal guy, then I'd be more normal. That's all I wanted, to be normal. Have you ever felt like that?" she asked rhetorically. "Like it'd be nice just to go to school and do homework and hang out at the mall on the weekend and spend too long on the phone at night and get grounded and - and just - " she stopped and drew a few deep breaths. "I'm sick of doing this whole superhero thing, Gar."

"You can't mean that…"

"Oh, but I do. I thought it'd be okay, that I'd readjust eventually, but I still haven't, Gar, not really. It's _hard. _I can't handle it. Maybe I'm a wimp, maybe I'm a coward, I don't _care, _I just want _out _for awhile - " she was getting hysterical again.

"Is that really what you want?" he asked quietly. "You want to leave us?"

"Not _you, _no, but this life…I need a break from it." She sniffled and scrubbed at her eyes with the back of her hand. A note of panic still tinged her voice.

"If that's really what you want," he said, "I'll talk to Robin. There's got to be something we can do."

She looked up at him, eyes still wet with tears. "Really?"

He tried his hardest to make his smile genuine as he said, "Yeah, of course."

:x:x:x:

She was gone for three months. The Titans quickly settled back into the rhythm of life without her - except for Beast Boy. For him, those three months were torturous.

When she finally returned, she did so suddenly, and without any sort of fanfare. He just looked up one afternoon and there she was in the doorway.

He simply stared for a moment, unable to process what he was seeing. "Tara?" he whispered at last, disbelievingly.

"Hey," she said, smiling at him.

He leapt off the couch and crossed the room in a couple of strides. Then he threw his arms around her and hugged her tightly. She hugged him back, her forehead resting against his chest.

"God, I missed you," he muttered into her hair.

"I missed you, too," she replied, her voice muffled in his shirt.

"I never realized three months could last so long," he said.

"Twelve weeks," she agreed quietly as he leaned back to look at her.

"Your hair's longer," he observed.

"I know." She grinned, pleased. It hung all the way to her hips now - before it had only reached her waist. It was gorgeous. Beast Boy couldn't resist reaching out and tucking a few stray strands behind her ear. The smile faded from Terra's face as they stared at each other. For a moment she could have _sworn _he was going to kiss her - and then Starfire came through the door, spotted her, and shrieked happily, interrupting the moment.

As the Titans celebrated Terra's return, she and Beast Boy both tried not to think about what had almost happened.

Neither succeeded.

:x:x:x:

Two weeks later Starfire's birthday occurred, and, at her request, they went out to a club to celebrate, holograms in place. Raven found herself a table and began brooding as the other Titans moved out onto the dance floor.

"Dance with me!" Terra shouted into Beast Boy's ear.

"Okay," he shouted back after a moment's hesitation.

Beast Boy _liked _dancing, but he wasn't particularly _good _at it. But Terra, as he discovered, was fabulous at it.

"When did you learn how to dance like that?" he yelled over the music.

"While I was gone," she replied. "The girls took me clubbing almost every weekend."

Beast Boy nodded, not bothering to respond verbally. He'd have to ask her who "the girls" were later.

The music changed suddenly, to a much slower song. All over the dance floor couples moved closer together. Beast Boy started to leave, but Terra reached out and grabbed his arm. "Stay," she said, more softly now that the music wasn't so loud.

"All right," he said, and stepped closer to her. He wrapped his arms around her waist; she slipped hers around his neck.

"So, what's happened over the last three months?" she asked, looking up at him. "I've heard a few stories, but…"

"Honestly, it's been kinda quiet," he replied. "Only minor villains - you know, like Mumbo and Dr. Light and the Troika. Nothing big."

"Not - " she paused. "Not Slade?"

"No," he said softly. It hadn't been easy, telling her that Slade had come back. She hadn't taken it at all well. In fact, she'd wanted to storm out, find him - and kill him.

As frightening as that sounded, he had to admit that he didn't entirely disagree with her. If Slade was dead, he'd never be able to hurt Terra again.

"You okay?" she asked, interrupting his thoughts.

"Yeah," he said, forcing himself to smile. Unconsciously, he pulled her closer, and was started to feel her head come to rest against his shoulder.

"Wonder what he's doing," Terra said softly.

"Biding his time, I guess," Beast Boy replied. "Plotting. Let's talk about something more cheerful."

"Like what?" she asked, lifting her head to look at him.

"I dunno." She had _beautiful _eyes. _Stop it! _he told himself.

He was staring at her, she realized. He looked so different when he wore his hologram.

Neither of them noticed when the music changed and the tempo picked back up again. He leaned toward her; her eyelids fluttered closed - and then someone ran into Terra, nearly knocking her over. Her eyes flew open, and he reached out instinctively and grabbed her arms. They both flushed red as they simultaneously realized what had just almost happened.

"I'm gonna go…uh…keep Raven company," she said, looking everywhere but at him, and then she turned and fled the dance floor.

He stared after her for a moment. "_Damn,_" he said finally, and stormed off in the opposite direction.

:x:x:x:

Things were awkward for the next day or so. Then they came to a tacit agreement that they were going to treat the event as though it hadn't happened.

At least, that was how they acted toward each other. Because neither of them could deny to themselves that it had.

:x:x:x:

The situation didn't improve as time passed. In fact, it got worse. It started with awkward moments occurring every once in a while, but eventually, it got so bad that they could barely look at each other without blushing, or speak to each other without stammering.

And again, Raven intervened. She cornered Beast Boy after he'd made an idiot of himself for the millionth time and said, "Beast Boy, this is getting ridiculous. Either tell her how you feel, or get over her."

"But what if she - "

"I don't know if you noticed," she interrupted, "but Terra's being just as idiotic as you are. I doubt she's just doing it to amuse herself."

Of course, he _hadn't _noticed. "Really?" he asked.

"Really. Now do something about it already."

There was a long pause. "Okay," he said finally. "Thanks, Raven. Again."

She quirked one corner of her mouth at him, in something that was almost a smile, and left.

It took another couple of days for him to work up enough courage to actually say anything, during which time he received several pointed looks from Raven.

Finally, though, he did, and he told Terra that he needed to talk to her. They went outside, to their spot on the rocks. "So what's up?" she asked, sitting down and folding her legs beneath her.

He opened his mouth to speak and found that the words wouldn't come out. So he closed it again. "_Damn,_" he muttered. "I'm no good with words." He sighed and paced a bit.

"Gar, what's _wrong?_" she asked, concerned now.

He took a deep breath. "Tara, several months ago I…I told you…" He couldn't look at her. "I told you I liked you. A lot. As more than a friend. And…I just wanted you to know that nothing's changed. I still feel that way."

There was a very long silence. Beast Boy glanced up at her. She was just sitting there, mouth wide open, staring at him.

"Yeah," he muttered, flushing, and turned to leave.

"No Gar wait - " She leapt up. "Don't go," she said softly. "Please." And she wrapped her arms around his waist from behind and hugged him tightly.

"Tara…" he whispered, even as his stomach lurched at her touch. "Don't do this to me."

"Gar, turn around and look at me," she said.

He did so, turning within the circle of her arms to look down at her, a somewhat sullen expression on his face. "Gar," she said, "I never said…you shocked me, that's all." She smiled at him and reached up to cup his cheek in one hand. "You're a sweetheart, you know that?"

His expression was more puzzled than hurt now. "Tara, what…"

She blushed, but she continued anyway. "Gar, I feel the same way about you."

A slow smile spread across his face. "Really?"

"Really," she said, and then he leaned down to kiss her, and finally, _finally, _everything was right. She was where she belonged, and she was happy.

:x:x:x:

**Author's Note Again:** Awww. Okay, _supremely _corny ending right there, but that's okay. Waff isn't necessarily a _bad _thing…  
In case you couldn't tell, I lied about the multi-chapter fic. I decided to instead post it as a series of one-shots, which makes it much easier on me.  
It was pointed out to me, the day after I posted LYK, that I spelled "practicing" "practising" - in other words, I spelled it the British way instead of the American way. GOD, I am pathetic. I've decided to leave it like that as a monument to my own stupidity.  
And along with that - with this, and with LYK, and "Story," I've discovered that it is very, very hard for me to make the Titans - and the narration! - sound as though they're American. I've been writing Harry Potter fanfics for so many years (I'm currently in my fifth year as an official member of ffn), I've sort of picked up a more British tone to my narration and dialogue, because all my characters have been British. And now they're American. It's really very frustrating. I keep trying to make Beast Boy use phrases and words like "shall we" and "rather" and "as though." Most Americans would say "let's" and "really" and "like." (Obviously, Americans are not the most eloquent people on the planet…;;;). I don't know how to solve this problem. It's driving me mad. See, there I go again. How many Americans say they're going "mad"? They don't. They say "crazy" or "insane." Nyaaaargh…  
Okay, I'm done ranting now. Sorry.  
**Thanks to the people who reviewed LYK:** ssjEasterBunny, Ransomed Heart, wordbearer, Sydney, Kirate, Lucas, Poopy Penguin, and Letselina.


End file.
